Basically you need to log enough hours to reach "experienced" (currently 14hrs) while running raptr. Which you can do by just logging in and sitting at the character screen (raptr logs this as playtime). New accounts will get 30days free, existing accounts won't get 30days, but you dont need a sub to log in, you just cant load your high level characters.

Ha, sorry for the spam, just updating in case anyone else tries this. But it looks like even if you "time out" on the character select screen, it kicks you out but the RIFT app is still running. Raptr still thinks you're playing. Should be able to just leave it setting there all night and hit the needed threshold tomorrow.

Too bad Storm Legion alone won't come with any play time. I forgot that Rift Lite limits you to a single character. I was going to roll a new mage to get properly reacquainted with the game but I don't want to delete either of my 50s.

Layoffs have hit Trion Worlds. IGN sources suggest that well over half the company has been let go, with some suggesting numbers as high as 80%. (Update: Trion tells us these numbers are "exaggerated," and we've reached out for more information regarding the extent of the layoffs.)

The San Diego studio -- where development of MMO Defiance took place -- is said to have been hit the hardest. A source suggests that employees are being escorted out of the building and that senior leaders from various Trion teams may not receive severance due to "undelivered services." (Update: A Trion representative calls both of these claims "100% false.") Another source tells us the layoffs were at all studios, "mostly Defiance support staff and dev staff" and that "team members and team leads for teams responsible for multiple projects, not just Defiance specific, have been laid off." In other words, "teams that provide game generic responsibilities and services have been let go."

Supposedly the RIFT dev team wasn’t affected, but that’s still not good.

If I'm reading it correctly, it sounds like you don't necessary need to spend real money to become a "subscriber". The needed items will be sellable/tradeable. That's one feature I always liked about EVE (although I never had the income to take advantage).

Also, rolled a warrior last night just to check them out. They have really simplified the starting zone. Literally took me like 15min to get through it. Did they speed up the leveling to 50 or just the starting zone?

Also, rolled a warrior last night just to check them out. They have really simplified the starting zone. Literally took me like 15min to get through it. Did they speed up the leveling to 50 or just the starting zone?

The starting experience was streamlined early in Storm Legion. I don’t think they’ve made many major changes they to chocolate RIFT zones, but they did recently convert some Silverwood and Freemarch kill quests into Carnage quests.

So with this raptr thing, is there any way to get SL "free" on an already existing account?

(I apologize if this has already been asked or answered, and will happily accept my flogging because I'm into that sort of thing)

Yeah, just run RIFT on any account while you have Raptr running so that it can track your time. Once you hit the needed time you get a code that you can apply to any account (new or existing). Simple as that.

So with this raptr thing, is there any way to get SL "free" on an already existing account?

(I apologize if this has already been asked or answered, and will happily accept my flogging because I'm into that sort of thing)

Yeah, just run RIFT on any account while you have Raptr running so that it can track your time. Once you hit the needed time you get a code that you can apply to any account (new or existing). Simple as that.

Ah, cool. I didn't know they just gave you the codes - I thought it was all tied together through the raptr thingee. Thanks!

I hate to do it, but I’m thinking of rerolling. It may be that I’m only level 24, but warrior seems really boring as a DPS class. I’m torn between mage and rogue. I normally play melee DPS, but I’m tempted to give ranged DPS a try. I loved my cleric back in the day, but clerics are apparently still pretty bad at DPS.

I rerolled, as I had a level 30 rogue from launch, but with my quests all scattered, I didn't' even know where to start. Ended up playing a Mage and it's enjoyable so far, at level 10ish. I'm glad I had a few platinum saved on my rogue, in order to buy some vendor bags. Plus, the 24-slot from the collector's edition helps a ton, too. I think I moved to Shatterbone, if that sounds correct. Seems like their isn't an active Ars guild anymore =( Back in the day, i remember doing some rift events in Defiant territory. I bet I can dig up some screenshots if I'm lucky.

I hate to do it, but I’m thinking of rerolling. It may be that I’m only level 24, but warrior seems really boring as a DPS class. I’m torn between mage and rogue. I normally play melee DPS, but I’m tempted to give ranged DPS a try. I loved my cleric back in the day, but clerics are apparently still pretty bad at DPS.

What souls are you using? My Champion/Paragon/Paladin is quite fun. The DPS is okay, not terrible by any means, but he has so many reactives that I find it to be a pretty fun game to play.

I rerolled, as I had a level 30 rogue from launch, but with my quests all scattered, I didn't' even know where to start.

I have a level 50 cleric, but I rolled a warrior because clerics were below par tanks when I last played. I must admit, part of the temptation to reroll is being able to play through all the zones with the graphics turned on.

Quote:

Ended up playing a Mage and it's enjoyable so far, at level 10ish. I'm glad I had a few platinum saved on my rogue, in order to buy some vendor bags. Plus, the 24-slot from the collector's edition helps a ton, too.

I think I’m going to give mage a try. Might as well try the melee mage spec.

Quote:

I think I moved to Shatterbone, if that sounds correct. Seems like their isn't an active Ars guild anymore =(

Nope. I don’t thinks there’s been any serious discussion of starting one, even after the f2p announcement.

I hate to do it, but I’m thinking of rerolling. It may be that I’m only level 24, but warrior seems really boring as a DPS class. I’m torn between mage and rogue. I normally play melee DPS, but I’m tempted to give ranged DPS a try. I loved my cleric back in the day, but clerics are apparently still pretty bad at DPS.

What souls are you using? My Champion/Paragon/Paladin is quite fun. The DPS is okay, not terrible by any means, but he has so many reactives that I find it to be a pretty fun game to play.

Champion/Paragon/Warlord. It may be my level, but my rotation consists of alternating my builder and followup attack until I have three AP then using my finisher. Sometimes I get to use my sole reactive if the mob dodges. It could also be that I’m used to playing 1s GCD classes in WoW (DK, monk), so the warrior just feels sluggish with a 1.5s GCD.

I rerolled, as I had a level 30 rogue from launch, but with my quests all scattered, I didn't' even know where to start. Ended up playing a Mage and it's enjoyable so far, at level 10ish. I'm glad I had a few platinum saved on my rogue, in order to buy some vendor bags. Plus, the 24-slot from the collector's edition helps a ton, too. I think I moved to Shatterbone, if that sounds correct. Seems like their isn't an active Ars guild anymore =( Back in the day, i remember doing some rift events in Defiant territory. I bet I can dig up some screenshots if I'm lucky.

From what I've read, the best mage leveling soul is the new melee soul. Not that you can't level just fine with other souls, just throwing it out there.

I hate to do it, but I’m thinking of rerolling. It may be that I’m only level 24, but warrior seems really boring as a DPS class. I’m torn between mage and rogue. I normally play melee DPS, but I’m tempted to give ranged DPS a try. I loved my cleric back in the day, but clerics are apparently still pretty bad at DPS.

What souls are you using? My Champion/Paragon/Paladin is quite fun. The DPS is okay, not terrible by any means, but he has so many reactives that I find it to be a pretty fun game to play.

Champion/Paragon/Warlord. It may be my level, but my rotation consists of alternating my builder and followup attack until I have three AP then using my finisher. Sometimes I get to use my sole reactive if the mob dodges. It could also be that I’m used to playing 1s GCD classes in WoW (DK, monk), so the warrior just feels sluggish with a 1.5s GCD.

I believe the 61 Root skill for the Warlord changes all GCD's to 1second.

I hate to do it, but I’m thinking of rerolling. It may be that I’m only level 24, but warrior seems really boring as a DPS class. I’m torn between mage and rogue. I normally play melee DPS, but I’m tempted to give ranged DPS a try. I loved my cleric back in the day, but clerics are apparently still pretty bad at DPS.

What souls are you using? My Champion/Paragon/Paladin is quite fun. The DPS is okay, not terrible by any means, but he has so many reactives that I find it to be a pretty fun game to play.

Champion/Paragon/Warlord. It may be my level, but my rotation consists of alternating my builder and followup attack until I have three AP then using my finisher. Sometimes I get to use my sole reactive if the mob dodges. It could also be that I’m used to playing 1s GCD classes in WoW (DK, monk), so the warrior just feels sluggish with a 1.5s GCD.

I believe the 61 Root skill for the Warlord changes all GCD's to 1second.

The 61 point paragon root skill does as well.

Is going 61 points the thing to do now? I was trying to put together a hybrid spec (because that’s how things worked in chocolate RIFT), but the many 61-point builds on RiftScene have me wondering.

I’m not sure how I feel about that. It’s good that 61 point specs aren’t usually a mistake (or a sign of ignorance as was the case in WoW), but if hybrid specs aren’t viable, then it feels like there are fewer meaningful decisions. On the other hand, the cleric hybrid DPS spec* in chocolate RIFT was fucking stupid.

-- * 1. take all the +20% crit damage talents; 2. macro everything into one button; 3. bind that button to all of the keys on your keyboard; 4. smash face into keyboard for best DPS

Massively posted a good interview with Scott Hartsman that they conducted in response to his tweets shortly after the Trion layoffs. It’s focused more on the industry than RIFT, but he does address his past statements about F2P being a bad fit for RIFT.

Pretty sure I was the inheritor of Ars Technica once the other leadership retired.. At least I seem to remember that being the case when I used up the 3 days of free play time a while back, I think that was when Storm Legion first launched. I might also be conflating memories with the old old PvE Guardian guild.

Either way, I'd have to wait for F2P to log in with those toons to find out. I'm also definitely going to have to transfer them to shards that actually exist these days, so if there's a consensus on where to congregate I'll gladly set up there. I made my throwaway account and toon on the PvE-RP shard for better or worse. Leveling a Kelari for at least a little fresh content but still finding the grind extra... grindey. Ah well, I'm just about ready to hit IT and RotF and do some warfronts which I'm sure will be more fun.

I rolled a rogue and went saboteur/ranger, and it’s tons of fun. I spent most of this morning running warfronts, shooting Guardians right in their stupid Guardian faces (and then mentoring back down to level 10 so that I don’t outlevel the quests I’m doing).

What level are you all at on Shatterbone? I've been playing pretty casually for a couple months now after taking a long break. I think I want to create a new character and Shatterbone is as good as anywhere else.